New barn kittens are not afraid of the horses..

[AliCat518]

Recently put our 5ish month old kittens out in the barn. Locked them in the feed room for 1.5 weeks and now they are allowed to go out their kitty door during the day and are locked in at night.

Unfortunately, they are NOT scared of the horses and walk underneath their hooves all the time. These kittens are terrified of small puppies…but the horses are no big deal!?
How can I encourage them NOT to walk underneath the horses?

Also, we went on a nice hack around the field, probably about 1.5-2 miles and one kitten followed us the entire time, meowing the whole way. Thought he would get tired and realize not to do it next time, but he did it again the next day. I would like to discourage this, but dont want to lock him up, because we will be leaving them out 24/7 soon.

(The kittens were dumped in our driveway when they were 2-3 weeks old and lived in the house with us until they got big enough to live outside safely, so they are quite attached to us).

[spinandslide]

this is going to sound awful…but sometimes they’ve got to learn the hard way.

I had two kittens do the same thing…until one day, one got stepped on my one of the horses…the horse felt the kitten and immediatly lifted her leg, but it surely scared “Milo” enough that he kept his distance after that.

I tried everything I could…short of locking them up when I had horses out…they simply wouldnt stay away.

[AliCat518]

I was kind of thinking the same thing. Thats how my dogs have always had to figure it out, unfortunately.

I just feel like they wouldnt survive being stepped on or kicked. Theyre only about 5.5lbs each right now (probably up to 6ish). They seem so tiny compared to hooves!

[mht]

Have to also agree with the ‘it will take being stepped on’ theory, sad to say. Happened about 10 days ago to one of the barn kitties. Every cat in the place heard that yowl, and are now very much aware of where the horses are, at all times. BTW, kittie was fine in a couple of days.

[Leather]

What about a spray bottle? Kittens start to associate coming near the horses with a squirt of water. It will only work when you’re around, but it’s a start.

At my old barn there were some kittens that would try to follow me when I went for a trail ride, which involved crossing a busy road to get to the trails. My solution was to give them a can of cat food right before I headed out to keep them occupied while I got out of sight.

This of course had the side-effect of creating kitteh stalkers who would swarm me upon my arrival at the barn. :lol:

[Horse_with_No_Name]

Our cat had to learn the hard way too. When he was still a tiny tot he used to go out into the paddocks and hide in the horses hay piles then spring out at them when they came over to eat they were very good and would eat around him while he rolled around batting at their faces… looked very cute but I used to cringe every time he did it, picking him up and moving him was a waste of time as he’d race back for more. Now I use nets and while he will come and sit on the rail while I tie the nets there is, apparently, no fun to be had there anymore.

I’m not sure exactly what happened the night he learned his lesson - he insisted on helping with our last check before turning in every night and one night in the darkness we heard a very loud yowl then a black streak went racing past us. Caught him and took him back up to the house where we poked, prodded, pulled and pushed - didn’t seem to hurt anywhere and showed no sign of injury, since that time he keeps a bit more distance between him and them, and if things start getting unruly he vacates immediately!

[LauraKY]

One of ours picked the wrong stall to play in. She was kicked in the head…survived, but was picked off by a hawk the next year. I don’t know if she just had no sense to begin with or if the kick affected her.

All the cats hang in Blue’s stall, AKA Dr. Doolittle. They sleep in his hay and he eats around them.

[NoDQhere]

I’ll second the spray bottle. Make being around the horses unpleasant with a good squirt or three.

[Wayside]

My barn cat used to rub up against the horses legs in the pasture, and then she’d roll over and roll in the dust right next to their feet :eek: Amazingly, she never got stepped on. Apparently I was the only one who was nervous about it, because she continued doing it on and off for years, until the passed away from a non-equine-related causes (upper respiratory infection).

So clearly I have no advice for you, only sympathy. It is quite nerve-wracking.